European plane maker Airbus announced Friday that, because of recent troubles with lithium ion batteries aboard Boeing 787 Dreamliners, it would "revert back to the proven and mastered nickel cadmium main batteries" for the first of its new A350 XWB aircraft to enter service, while also studying the maturity of lithium ion main batteries for aerospace.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators grounded the 787 after smoke and fire incidents aboard airplanes owned by Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.

Photo: AP

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators...

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators... Photo-4058632.56904 - SFGate

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The FAA grounding was its first since the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 in 1979.

Photo: Photoshot, Getty Images

The FAA grounding was its first since the McDonnell Douglas DC-10...

The FAA grounding was its first since the McDonnell Douglas DC-10... Photo-4202382.56904 - SFGate

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In 1974, a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed near Ermenonville, France, killing all 346 people aboard. An investigation determined the cause was a cargo door that wasn't fully locked and blew out in flight in an explosive decompression, and the FAA mandated changes to the door design.

In 1979, the left wing engine of an American Airlines DC-10 came off during takeoff from Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The engine cut hydraulic lines, leading slats to retract and the airplane to stall, roll and crash, killing 271 people aboard and two on the ground. While faulty maintenance led to the engine coming off of the airplane,
the FAA grounded the model until McDonnell Douglas made several changes,
including adding a mechanism to lock the position of the leading-edge
slats in such a failure.

Photo: NASA

In 1979, the left wing engine of an American Airlines DC-10 came...

In 1979, the left wing engine of an American Airlines DC-10 came... Photo-4202686.56904 - SFGate

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McDonnell Douglas went on to produce 386 DC-10s in six commercial models through 1989, plus 60 KC-10 tanker/cargo models for the U.S. Air
Force.

Lockheed's L-188 Electra endured similar difficulties after entering service in 1959, with three fatal crashes in 14 months. Testing in NASA's Transonic Dynamics Tunnel found that, in two of the crashes, the engines came off of the airplane because the large propellers were causing a phenomenon called "propeller whirl flutter." Lockheed fixed the problem, but ended up building just 174 L-188s and lost an estimated $57 million, plus another $55 million in lawsuits.

Lockheed had more success with the L-188-based P-3 Orion military patrol aircraft, which stayed in production into the 1990s and is still in service with the U.S. Navy, although the Boeing 737-based P-8A Poseidon is set to replace it.

Photo: U.S. Navy

Lockheed had more success with the L-188-based P-3 Orion military...

Lockheed had more success with the L-188-based P-3 Orion military... Photo-1043756.56904 - SFGate

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Britain’s de Havilland rolled out its Comet prototype in 1949 and got the world’s first jet airliner into service in 1952, six years before Boeing’s 707.

The Comet started out as a grand success, until aircraft started falling out of the sky. The first accident on takeoff was blamed on pilot error, while the second resulted in design changes to the wing. A third was attributed to turbulence. Then, in 1954, two Comets blew apart in the air. This photo shows the reconstructed remains of Comet G-ALYP, which plunged into the sea in pieces soon after departing Rome on Jan. 10, 1954.

Photo: Science & Society Picture Librar, SSPL Via Getty Images

The Comet started out as a grand success, until aircraft started...

The Comet started out as a grand success, until aircraft started... Photo-4202370.56904 - SFGate

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A "torture" test of a grounded Comet in a water tank eventually led to decompression of the cabin. Investigators found that metal had fatigued and cracked in the corner of an escape hatch window. Several months later an Italian trawler recovered a large section of cabin roof of G-ALYP. It showed a crack starting in the corner of a navigation window on top of the fuselage. The culprit? Square windows.

Photo: Science & Society Picture Librar, SSPL Via Getty Images

A "torture" test of a grounded Comet in a water tank eventually led...

A "torture" test of a grounded Comet in a water tank... Photo-4202355.56904 - SFGate

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By the time de Havilland re-engineered the Comet, in 1958, it had fallen behind other rivals — particularly the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.

Photo: Keystone, Getty Images

By the time de Havilland re-engineered the Comet, in 1958, it had...

By the time de Havilland re-engineered the Comet, in 1958, it had... Photo-937288.56904 - SFGate

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Airbus' double-decker A380 suffered through a series of production delays, but had a relatively smooth entry into service with Singapore Airlines in 2007.

The aircraft's safety was thrown into question on Nov. 4, 2010, when one of the four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on a Qantas A380 blew apart during takeoff from Singapore, shooting flames, ejecting large metal chunks and damaging a wing. The jet returned safely to Singapore, but Qantas grounded its A380 fleet.

The aircraft's safety was thrown into question on Nov. 4, 2010,...

The aircraft's safety was thrown into question on Nov. 4,... Photo-780008.56904 - SFGate

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But investigators traced the problem to a single faulty part in the engine, and Qantas resumed A380 flights on Nov. 27, 2010.

Photo: Getty Images

But investigators traced the problem to a single faulty part in the...

But investigators traced the problem to a single faulty part in the... Photo-779988.56904 - SFGate

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Then, last year, the European Aviation Safety Agency ordered checks of all A380s in service after cracks were found in wing components. Qantas suspended use of one of its A380s after finding 36 small cracks. Singapore Airlines said it had repaired some A380s after finding cracks. Airbus has estimated repairs will cost it nearly $138 million.

Photo: Mark Nolan, Getty Images

Then, last year, the European Aviation Safety Agency ordered checks...

The model suffered a series of glitches before one slammed into a volcano during a demonstration flight in Indonesia last year, killing all aboard. Investigators blamed the pilot, determining he had ignored terrain warnings.

Photo: STR, AFP/Getty Images

The model suffered a series of glitches before one slammed into a...

The model suffered a series of glitches before one slammed into a... Photo-2940769.56904 - SFGate

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Then, earlier this month, issues such as false readings in the aircraft's leak warning system, failure of the wing slats to deploy and undercarriage retraction problems led Russian regulators to suspend the airworthiness certificates of three of the four Superjets operated by Russian airline Aeroflot. Authorities have since restored the certificates.